Wicker Park District

District Context

Wicker Park District enters the city's landmark system as district number 62. The record anchors the district on an unconfirmed date in the current record and pairs that with the extent note An approximately 16-square-block area, roughly bounded by Caton St. (1700N) on the north, Bell and Leavitt (2200W) on the west, Potomac (1300N) on the south, and the elevated tracks on the east; 1870-1930. (April 12, 1991) COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS Ernest C. Wong, Chair Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz, Vice Chair Ciere Boatright, Secretary Alicia Blakely Suellen Burns Jonathan Fair Alicia Ponce Adam Rubin Richard Tolliver The Commission is staffed by the: Department of Planning and Development Bureau of Citywide Planning Historic Preservation Division 121 N. LaSalle St., Room 905 Chicago, Illinois 60602 312.744.3200 www.cityofchicago.org/landmarks. Wicker Park District stays useful for boulevards, parks, and public-space structure, the relationship between open space and surrounding buildings, and preservation of a designed setting rather than a single object because it does not flatten into one landmark name.

Wicker Park District becomes physically clearer when site notes compare edges, courts, plantings, and view lines, how buildings frame shared space, and later paving, planting, or traffic changes. That is the shift from abstract designation to visible evidence of how district identity can depend as much on shared space and alignment as on the buildings themselves.

Research Starting Points

Wicker Park District opens next into designation reports and planning records, historic photographs and maps, and park or boulevard histories. That is usually how the district moves from a protected outline into a fuller history of parcels, fabric, and later change.

Wicker Park District becomes more useful as later fieldwork and source work keep returning to the same district frame.